April Montgomery won a North Carolina House seat covering all of Lee County and part of Moore County without running as a Democrat or a Republican, and now that she's headed to Raleigh, she says she has no plans yet to meet with either party. Montgomery, an unaffiliated candidate, defeated Republican Charles Taylor, a Sanford city council member, in a race that turned unusually contentious for a legislative contest. She says she has not committed to either party and has no plans yet to meet with either party once she's seated in the state legislature in January.
The seat belonged to John Sauls for seven terms across two tenures before he chose not to seek reelection this cycle, according to The News & Observer. Montgomery campaigned on investing in public education and supporting small businesses, and she has said voters wanted an independent representative not beholden to other parties. Her win came the same week North Carolina House Democrats took control of the chamber for the first time in years, leaving them one seat short of a supermajority — a shift described elsewhere as part of a broader swing toward Democrats across the state's House races, with Ward and Smith, P.A. reporting that Democrats won control of the House after 16 years in the minority and that the average margin shift statewide ran 15.8 points in Democrats' favor compared with 2024.
A Caucus Claim That Got Walked Back
Exactly where Montgomery lands remains unsettled, and the record on that point is mixed. Ward and Smith's midterm elections report described her as expected to caucus with Democrats, while North Carolina House Democrats issued a statement the day after the election saying the party had won a supermajority and that Montgomery planned to caucus with them — before correcting that statement to clarify it had spoken on her behalf without her commitment to either party, per the same report from The News & Observer. WUNC separately reported that Democrats initially said Montgomery planned to join their caucus if elected, then later retracted that claim.
Kirk Kovach, deputy chief of staff for House Democratic Leader Robert Reives, said that as of publication Montgomery had not made a formal request to caucus with House Democrats, according to The News & Observer. House Democratic caucus bylaws require legislators to formally request admission, and caucus members then vote on those requests — a process North Carolina House caucuses use for the closed-door meetings where members debate legislation and strategy. Republican House Speaker Destin Hall, for his part, said he welcomes additional members to the House Republican caucus, the paper reported.
A Defamation Fight Shadowed the Race
The contest against Taylor grew heated before Election Day. Just before the election, Taylor filed a defamation lawsuit alleging a political action committee called the Sandhills Citizens Alliance crossed the line with mailers it distributed, which claimed he owned and operated an illegal gambling business, according to The News & Observer. Taylor sent the group a cease-and-desist letter demanding a retraction, saying he owns the property in question but does not run the business there, and that he would address any tenant issue based on the facts and law.
Petitioning Her Way Onto the Ballot
Getting on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate required meeting a signature threshold. North Carolina state law sets petition requirements for unaffiliated candidates, and those requirements and deadlines depend on the office sought, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Montgomery needed signatures from at least 4% of registered voters in District 51 — around 2,300 people — and had to submit her petition by noon on primary election day, per The News & Observer. She ultimately gathered more than 3,300 signatures, well past the requirement. Separately, THE RANT reported that the State Board of Elections certified 2,826 signatures for her petition, almost 600 more than she needed to make the ballot.
Montgomery has said the petition process doubled as retail politics, helping her meet campaign supporters and build a team without relying on party infrastructure. “People desperately want a choice beyond the two parties and we're going to give them one,” she told THE RANT when she made her candidacy official.
An Energy Background Heading Into a Growth Debate
Away from the campaign trail, Montgomery is chief development officer of EIP Storage, a battery energy storage system supplier, and has spent 20 years in the energy industry, according to The News & Observer. EIP Storage's own staff bio describes her as having more than two decades of experience in project development, including wind, solar and storage projects. She sees a possible role for herself handling energy and utility policy in the legislature, saying planning must weigh energy resources and who ultimately bears the cost as electrical demand keeps climbing.
That demand growth is already drawing attention at the state level. North Carolina faces increasing electrical demand in the years ahead, and a Duke Energy forecast cited in a report from North Carolina Governor Josh Stein's Energy Policy Task Force projects total demand across Duke's two Carolina systems could rise anywhere from 16% to nearly 60% through 2040.
She Isn't the Only One Sitting Between Parties
Montgomery isn't the only North Carolina House member currently navigating life outside the two-party structure. Rep. Carla Cunningham re-registered as unaffiliated after serving as a Democrat, WUNC reported, and at the time had not decided whether she would continue caucusing with House Democrats or instead caucus with Republicans. Cunningham was serving her seventh term in the chamber when she made the switch. For now, Montgomery has not committed to either party, leaving her caucus status, like Cunningham's once was, an open question heading into the new legislative session.
